Unisex name ★ peaked 1952

Donnie

Gender Unisex · 10% girls Rank 2025 #1,796 Trend ↑ Rising 12%

A diminutive of the male given names Don, Donald, Donovan, and Adonis.

Rank 2025
#1,796
among boys · ↓28 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
89
named Donnie · -4% vs 2024
How common
1 in 19,192
boys born in 2025
Peak year
1952
1,912 babies
All-time total
68,060
#445 all-time among boys
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Donnie popularity over time

68,060 babies have been named Donnie since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
0.380.751.131.518801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 179 18 197 20 – #768
1890s 309 50 359 36 +82% #684
1900s 385 70 455 46 +27% #807
1910s 726 301 1,027 103 +126% #880
1920s 1,003 722 1,725 173 +68% #491
1930s 1,213 4,229 5,442 544 +215% #196
1940s 1,305 10,986 12,291 1,229 +126% #156
1950s 960 17,171 18,131 1,813 +48% #150
1960s 540 10,890 11,430 1,143 -37% #193
1970s 273 7,468 7,741 774 -32% #246
1980s 122 3,826 3,948 395 -49% #337
1990s 76 2,196 2,272 227 -42% #544
2000s 20 1,391 1,411 141 -38% #950
2010s 15 1,079 1,094 109 -22% #1,318
2020s (to 2025) 6 531 537 90 -18% #1,730

Where Donnie is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 boys Implied rank
2026 91 0.05 outside top 500
2027 93 0.05 outside top 500
2028 94 0.06 outside top 500
2029 95 0.06 outside top 500
2030 96 0.06 outside top 500

Where Donnie is most popular

Boys named Donnie per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.052 per 1,000. Strongest in Tennessee, Ohio, and California.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Donnie born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Tennessee 13 0.072 +39%
Ohio 17 0.064 +23%
California 58 0.063 +22%
South Carolina 6 0.058 +12%
Texas 49 0.056 +7%
Georgia 12 0.047 -9%
Illinois 10 0.039 -25%
Missouri 5 0.036 -31%
North Carolina 8 0.031 -40%
Arizona 5 0.031 -41%
Virginia 5 0.026 -49%
Florida 5 0.011 -80%
Alaska – – –
Alabama – – –
Arkansas – – –
Colorado – – –
Connecticut – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Iowa – – –
Idaho – – –
Indiana – – –
Kansas – – –
Kentucky – – –
Louisiana – – –
Massachusetts – – –
Maryland – – –
Maine – – –
Michigan – – –
Minnesota – – –
Mississippi – – –
Montana – – –
North Dakota – – –
Nebraska – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Jersey – – –
New Mexico – – –
Nevada – – –
New York – – –
Oklahoma – – –
Oregon – – –
Pennsylvania – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Dakota – – –
Utah – – –
Vermont – – –
Washington – – –
Wisconsin – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Donnie

Donnie is rare for boys in the United States, ranked #1,796 in 2025 with 89 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 68,060 American babies have been named Donnie, about 90% boys and 10% girls, making it a genuinely unisex name. Its peak came in 1952, when 1,912 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1950s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Donnie stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Donnie?

The median living Donnie is about 64 years old; half are between 50 and 72. An estimated 47 thousand people named Donnie are alive in the United States today.

median 64 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Donnie year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 – – 89 #1,796
2024 – – 93 #1,768
2023 6 #13,897 81 #1,931
2022 – – 92 #1,785
2021 – – 94 #1,730
2020 – – 82 #1,816
2019 – – 81 #1,852
2018 – – 79 #1,888
2017 5 #16,527 101 #1,596
2016 – – 113 #1,504
2015 – – 120 #1,430
2014 5 #17,269 127 #1,352
2013 – – 108 #1,502
2012 – – 116 #1,432
2011 5 #17,521 104 #1,527
2010 – – 130 #1,318
2009 – – 122 #1,394
2008 – – 132 #1,321
2007 – – 144 #1,227
2006 7 #13,991 134 #1,249
2005 – – 129 #1,226
2004 8 #11,925 131 #1,183
2003 – – 153 #1,034
2002 – – 142 #1,066
2001 5 #16,032 144 #1,024
2000 – – 160 #950
1995 10 #8,263 180 #800
1990 9 #8,683 339 #544
1985 16 #4,687 340 #471
1980 18 #4,191 551 #337
1975 26 #2,827 739 #264
1970 42 #1,989 913 #252
1965 40 #1,807 971 #234
1960 74 #1,282 1,564 #193
1955 92 #1,050 1,672 #169
1950 94 #919 1,724 #150
1945 118 #688 991 #168
1940 115 #651 674 #197
1935 126 #574 425 #263
1930 106 #667 175 #445
1925 107 #713 66 #820
1920 93 #753 44 #1,051
1915 91 #697 42 #966
1910 49 #593 11 #996
1905 44 #511 9 #855
1900 54 #459 7 #1,075
1895 41 #443 6 #1,007
1890 35 #432 – –
1885 21 #460 – –
1880 20 #368 – –

Famous people named Donnie

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Donnie Wahlberg Donnie Wahlberg American singer and actor (born 1969) Contemporary
  2. 2 Donnie Yen Donnie Yen Hong Kong actor and martial artist (born 1963) Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Donnie, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Donnie?

The median living Donnie is about 64 years old. Half of all living Donnies are between 50 and 72 years old.

How many people named Donnie are alive today?

An estimated 47 thousand people named Donnie are alive in the United States, based on 68,060 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Donnie mean?

A diminutive of the male given names Don, Donald, Donovan, and Adonis.

How popular is the name Donnie in 2025?

Donnie ranked #1,796 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 89 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Donnie?

68,060 babies have been named Donnie in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Donnie most popular?

Donnie peaked in 1952, when 1,912 newborns received the name.

Is Donnie a boy or girl name?

Donnie is used for both: about 10% of babies named Donnie have been girls and 90% boys.

Is the name Donnie rising or falling?

Donnie is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Donnie become more popular?

Donnie is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 96 boys named Donnie in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Donnie?

Well-known people named Donnie include Donnie Wahlberg (actor), Donnie Yen (actor).

Names like Donnie

Names that sound and feel close to Donnie: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Donnie with similar names → More names starting with D →